Leicester Confident of Confirming New James Maddison Contract Before Next Season

Exclusive - Leicester City are hoping to finalise a new contract for James Maddison before the start of next season, after rekindling talks with the player during the suspension of the Premier League campaign.

Maddison has been one of the top performing players in the country in 2019/20, and has played a big role in taking the Foxes to a lofty third place in the league. His performances in the first half of the year in particular earned him not only his senior England debut in November, but the attention of rival clubs such as Tottenham and Manchester United.

Just a young lad from Coventry with a dream. Last night I fulfilled that dream of playing for my country @england can’t begin to try and describe the satisfaction it gave me. Thankyou for all the messages???????? pic.twitter.com/2PQ23Ac6d1

United are the club to have shown the strongest interest, though in recent months Aston Villa's Jack Grealish has emerged as their preferred option as they seek to bolster their midfield ranks.

Maddison's price - which would've been likely similar if not more than what United paid Leicester for Harry Maguire in August 2019 - will be difficult for United to meet considering the other business they intend to do this summer, while Maddison himself has always retained he's happy at King Power Stadium.

United have already found Leicester to be tough negotiators, but they believe Grealish will be easier to attain given Aston Villa's Premier League status is uncertain at present.

England Media Access | Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

Leicester were close to agreeing a new deal with Maddison just before Christmas, but failure to find an agreement on finer details to the contract stopped the deal being finalised at the time.

The 2016 Premier League champions however now believe that a deal is close to completion, a source has confirmed to 90min. It's likely Maddison will sign a new five-year deal - similar in length to the one he signed when joining from Norwich in 2018 - but on significantly increased terms.

Maddison joined Leicester at the time for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £20m.